Ben, in training!

Ok, I used to think it was a little ridiculous that people could not get their kids to sit still and watch a half hour movie! Full confession!
My kids never had that issue. I could always pop something in, and they would veg for a full half hour without flinching - a half hour where I could actually accomplish one task from start to finish! (. . .like a shower perhaps?)
Well, Ben is nine months now and will not watch TV! And that has to stop!
So today, I set up his exersaucer right close, turned up the volume, and popped in the no-fail Little People. That gets 'em everytime!
As you can see, this did not impress little Ben! He didn't even try to watch the show!
He whined and cried for me the entire time! Finally he got a bit distracted by one of the toys on the exersaucer, but that didn't stop the crying. He can do that perfectly well and play with a toy at the same time.
Well, I'm not going to give up! He will learn to veg, just like the others!

Isn't he the funniest thing?

Giggles!
Ben insists on having the door closed when he is playing in Sara's room. I watched him after I sat him down with a basket of toys. He pushed over onto his belly and then army-crawled over to the door and swung it closed. But it didn't close tight, so he wriggled his way over and gave it one more push till it clicked. Then he shoved himself back up to sitting and resumed playing with his toys.
In this picture he is just fighting to see around the door so he can giggle at me - so cute!!!

Go Logos Knights!

We attended the Logos basketball game vs. Pullman Christian the other night. They have always been a fun local rival, which makes for the best games! This one did not disappoint, as they beat Pullman Christian in overtime.
(Unfortunately, our kids couldn't last until the finale, but we can imagine how cool it must have been! :)

Celebrating Epiphany!

We spent the evening at the Casebolt's, enjoying a crown roast with stuffing and mashed potatoes.
The theme was gold and Ann had even bought golden gifts for everyone (including a set of Golden Books for the kids!) It was a beautiful dinner and a wonderful way to relax and remember the whole story of Christ's birth!
What a lovely new tradition for us!

Sleeping Beauty!

Out cold!
That little brother of hers woke her up several times last night. She had a hard time getting up this afternoon!

Earlier today, helpin' out in the kitchen in her school clothes and tiara (not part of the uniform).
Gosh, I love 'er!

And one from Kayte. . .

"Mom", says she, "if you died on your birthday. . .wouldn't that be a sad birthday for you?"

And for everyone else, I should think!

Another Will-ism. . .

The other day I was going to run out and get some McDonald's for dinner. (Well, it's been snowing a lot and I haven't gotten to the store in a while!)

I asked the kids what they wanted, "Chicken or Burgers?"

Will said, "I would like chicken nuggets! Because sometimes I have boogers, but I want chicken nuggets".

Hee hee!

Ice-fishing!

Will really looks forward to his ice-fishing trip with his dad every year. And this year, he had his very own big-boy rod to use!

I asked Will how it went, and he said, "Great! I got a big fish and dad got just a little one!"

(Well, it was true!)

They brought home six nice trout and we had a big fish dinner that night. Dee-lish!

My littlest Ben is nine months old!

He's getting very strong! He kept dropping this toy on the ground and then bending over and picking it up again. It was a tough little exercise, and he was so proud of himself. I would say, "Again!" and he'd smile and do it over and over.

So cute!
Little Ben is nine months old today, can you believe it?
He is so smart! He understands the word 'no' and 'again' and he can wave good-bye and says something like "bye-bye"! He has had a cold for two weeks and knows the sound of me pulling tissue from the box cause he will instantly bury his head when he hears it.
This 8th month has been a little tough on him! He now has seven teeth, three of them appeared on Christmas Day! So he has been having some trouble napping and sleeping at night. But today he seemed like himself again. Playing and scooting around. He doesn't crawl yet, but he does manage to get around pretty well by scooting and rolling around. He can get himself up to sitting from his back or tummy. The first time I found him after a nap sitting up was so funny! He just sat there with a big grin like he had been waiting and waiting for me to come in and discover his new trick! And just today, he pulled up to standing in the crib for the very first time! He will be cruisin' in no time!
As one might expect from a nine month old who is constantly bundled up, he loves going clothes-free! When he gets grumpy in the evening, I will dress him down to a diaper and he will just giggle and squeal, and we get to stretch out bedtime a little that way.
He is starting to tolerate a little squash, but still prefers the fruits, and the other day he downed little bites of a quesadilla - he loved that! Now that his teeth are growing in pretty well, we get to be a little more adventurous!
The little guy is practically weaned. I have been holding on to that last morning feeding for a week or two now, but I can tell he is just done with the whole deal. It is very sad for me, as this is my last little guy! I keep thinking that maybe I could just revert back to nursing, but the kid has to quit eventually, and it would never get easier anyway! He is just going to keep growing and growing. . .
But for tonite he was still my littlest baby and I got to hold him and rock him to sleep as he buried his head in and sucked his little thumb.
So sweet!!! I'm gonna miss this!

And the snow keeps comin'. . .

The kids wanted to go outside and play and tried to convince me that they would be just fine. So I told them to open the door and look out. This is what they saw. There is no way they could walk in that!

I thought today would be the day that that table would disappear under the snow. Not quite yet. . .

There has to be a good 2 1/2 feet of snow on there, at least!

I was so ambitious at the start of the day! I just love being out in the snow and it was in the 30s so it was still pleasant, not lung-sucking!
Joe took my car to work because, this morning, as he was brushing the snow off his car, the plow came along and buried it in. Nice!
Anyway, I took advantage of the empty driveway and shovelled out the foot and a half of new snow. What wonderful exercise, thought I!
Now my whole body aches and feels all crooked and bent out of shape.
But I had a lot of fun anyway! And it is nothing that 3 ibuprofens and a glass of cheap riesling can't fix! ;)

What goes up, must come down!

Getting ready for our first sledding of the season!
Grandpa Dave got an 8 foot tobaggon for Christmas this year, and we were obliged to give it a test-run! Grandma watched the babies and the rest of us, including Sara, hit the hill.

Don't worry, we usually took the back side of the hill where we could sail for ages and never hit anything. But we had to get back to the house somehow!

Take 2.

And finally, slamming on the brakes. A bit of a powdery stop. Will was not impressed with the captain on that one!

Goin' Sleddin'

The boys took turns helping pull the kids up the hill, although somehow Josh ended up with a full shift.

This was the first trek up. The kids had so much fun going down, they popped right off the sled and started running back up the hill!

Will even offered to take the sled.

The top was very very cold and windy, but breathtaking! The snow was crusty so it was a nice smooth ride down without any powder blowing up in our faces.

There is my little adventurer Kayte, who made it to the top first!
All this getting out in the snow is making me ache to get on my skis. I can hardly bear it!

Rescuing our car!

So, Avista finally showed up about 6:00 tonite. We can't really complain, because we did have heat and power all day. But the guy took one look at it, and said he couldn't really help us out, as he would be liable for any damage to our car. He gave us the go-ahead to take care of it ourselves because the powerline was still insulated, and apparently safe?

Our yard, what a mess!

Good thing we have a handy brother-in-law with a chainsaw! The boys came up with a plan and successfully untangled our car.

Firewood anyone? You-haul!

Impromptu Dinner!

The Driskills invited themselves over for dinner tonite - yes they do that sometimes :), but they brought their own food (and chainsaw!), so I can't complain!
We are getting pretty good at having adult conversations while the children jabber on their own end of the table. It is total chaos, but a very welcome respite from the cabin fever that I'd been suffering from all day long!
It's tough being on lock-down!

More on Vacation!

We've been watching Peter Pan again, which means it is time to break out the pirate treasure maps for coloring!
Kayte drew a big red spot in the water which was where someone apparently died.
(We also watched Prince Caspian last night, which would explain our new fascination for blood!)
And yes, it was about noon and Sara is still in her pjs. It is vacation after all, and she does not yet dress herself, so. . .

Happy 35th Stephen!

My big brother turns 35 today!

I remember celebrating Stephen's 30th birthday at their home in Atlanta, and I remember saying to him, "Look how much you've accomplished in 30 years: a real career, buying a home, getting married, and expecting your first child!"

Since that time, he has gone on to build their house with his own two hands and produce two more children. That's a good, successful life in a short 35 years!

Happy Birthday!!!

Side Note

Kayte was in tears when I wouldn't let her go out and play in the snow. Well, trees are falling and power lines are hanging precariously after all! Not to mention it is nearly waist-deep for my little six year old. . .

Apparently she was quite distraught that the tree had the nerve to fall on their snow fort and ruin it!!!

Our Morning Adventure!

We woke up to find a huge branch in our yard - our tree was starting to crumble under all this heavy snow. . . Then another larger branch fell, about 8 inches in diameter at the base.
I got outside to move the car, in case the whole tree started to go and then I heard the tree creaking loudly under the weight. . . .
so I got on the line with Avista, because one of the large branches above our car was weighing heavily across our power line.
As I was on hold waiting. . .

. . .I saw this branch start to go, and along with it, the power line!

Here is a better picture of the power line stretched tight over our car as it is trying to pull free of the transformer.
You can also see there is an even bigger branch threatening to give way. . .
apparently this is a busy day for Avista. . . .

Ahh, serenity!

The view from my pillow this morning. . .

Mystery Solved.

Joe got a whole bag of Rolos in his stocking this year. And I'm always finding the wrappers on the counter or the desk, and like a good wife, I was mentioning to Joe how that really drove me crazy.

A week later, I started finding those little gold wrappers again, but this time they were crumpled up under a dresser, or the crib, and today I found some behind the couch - not really Joe's M.O.

And suddenly, I remembered Will hopping up onto the counter to fetch me some jelly beans from the candy dish, and it all became quite clear!

Sneaky little bugger! :)